Pokemon: World of Darkness
by lord-grima
Summary: This FanFiction will be based off the story of XD: Gale of Darkness. Much of the story will remain unchanged, but I aim to give the characters more personality and the story itself a darker tone. This is my first FanFic, so any and all reviews will be appreciated.
1. Chapter 1

Jacob stretched as he walked along the S.S. Libra's recently polished decks. The sun was setting, and sight of the dying light reflecting off the waves and the ship's hull was a sight to behold. Jacob knew he couldn't stay there forever because the captain needed him to steer the ship for the remainder of the trip back to Orre. Jacob continued his somewhat slow place to the door which lead to the control room of the S.S. Libra. As Jacob walked through the open doorway, the captain turned from the wheel of the ship and stated, "Good to see you Jacob. Are all of the Pokémon on the ship safe and below decks?" "Yes Captain Shole." Jacob replied as he walked over to the captain.

The captain was wearing his usually blue suit that had golden buttons and white hat which had a golden Pokeball symbol adorned on the middle. Jacob, of course, was wearing his white sailor clothes with a red tie, as well as a white hat with a blue stripe running around the base. Jacob walked up to the wheel, and took over so the captain could rest.

Captain Shole began to walk towards the door, but then turned and walked back over to Jacob. Captain Shole then said, "Jacob, I just wanted to thank you for your years of service to my father's company. Not many people are alright with spending their lives helping people transport their beloved Pokémon. You understand that they trust us not with mindless creatures, but with their friends whom they worry about." Jacob, taken aback by the praise given out by his captain, only managed to stutter out, "O-o-of course." Jacob then stood up straighter than he had been and said, "Thank you for your high praise Captain Shole. It is my job, no, my honor to help people and Pokémon."

Captain Shole smiled at his second in command's word. Shole understood not all people are as selfless as the man standing before him. In fact, Jacob was one of only five people who agreed to assist him in transporting these Pokémon from Johto all the way to Orre. The captain smiled as he looked out over the water they were traversing. Jacob, following his lead, looked to the waters which he had known as home for years.

But then, disaster struck. Four helicopters began to swarm around the ship. As one flew across the two men's vision, Captain Shole cried out, "What in the world is happening? Helicopters know not to fly so close to a ship carrying Pokémon! The Pokémon might get agitated and start attacking one another!" They ran out of the control room only to meet a frightening sight. Flying above the ship was not only the four helicopters they had previously heard, but also a huge bird-like Pokémon hanging above the ship. The large beast cast its shadow on the ship, making it seem like a mere sailboat. As the huge Pokémon descended towards the S.S. Libra, Captain Shole went white with fear. Jacob, not knowing what Pokémon it was, was shocked by the Captain's reaction. "Captain," Jacob whispered nervously, "What Pokémon is that?" As his captain tried to answer, Jacob was only able to catch the smallest whisper, "Lugia."

"Copter one reporting." The mysterious man in one of the helicopters said, "Target is within range. Permission to begin capture?" "Permission granted." The reply came in a surprisingly high-pitched feminine voice. The man in the helicopter smiled. It was truly a frightening thing to behold, for it was the smile of an evil man. As he heard the cry of XD001, the smile grew much larger and much more terrifying as a result.

"Mission Shadowbird is about to begin," He stated to himself as the already disturbing smile grew to a size that should not be possible. As he pressed a red button on his control panel, the Pokeball-shaped eyepiece that he and all the other pilots wore began to emit a sinister red light. He looked over at XD001 to see the creature's red eyes glow in response.

The immense purple and white beast then began emitting a dark aura that even the ungifted could plainly see. The immense creature then opened its jaws and shot a beam of dark energy at the S.S. Libra. The purple beam surrounded by blue flames left purple rings of energy around the creature's large body. As the dark beam impacted the ship, rings of orange light began to radiate from the ship's hull. The S.S. Libra then did something that defied all reality. The huge 50,000 ton ship was lifted out of the water and began to fly.

As the ship was lifted from the ocean, Jacob and the Captain were sent flying from the deck they were standing on. They landed hard on the water, and Jacob immediately lost his hat. Jacob, after pulling himself together, looked around and quickly found Captain Shole, who was floating in the water and watching as the ship he had been the captain of was taken away by a Pokémon he had deemed a myth. Jacob reached the captain, and then looked at the same spectacle that his battered captain was witnessing. The large beast let a load cry as it carried away the ship full of innocent Pokémon to parts unknown.


	2. Chapter 2

Authors Note: Thank you for reading my story. I hope you liked my spin on the intro vidoe, but now it's time to meet our main character.

Michael looks around at the battle arena that he is now fighting in. The arena had sandstone bleachers and columns, but a large section of the arena and crumbled from the test of time. Despite the fact that the arena was huge, the largest Michael had seen, the only people inside the arena were Michael and his opponent. While his opponent had brown hair and was wearing a light blue jacket with white trim as well as dark grey pants and shoes, Michael had dark red hair and was wearing his usual blue pants, black undershirt, bright yellow vest, dark colored shoes, and his goggles which hung about his neck.

His opponent yelling out, "Metagross, Use Sludge Bomb!" brought Michael's concentration back to the battle at hand. Michael's Salamence took the blow to its side just below its dark red wing. The dragon-like Pokémon growled at the Steel-Psychic Pokémon as it raised itself back into the air. "Dragon Dance!" Michael commanded his Dragon Pokémon. Salamence then began to glow with a red light that surrounded its entire body. As the light faded and the opposing Metagross launched another Sludge Bomb, Salamence was easily able to avoid it. "Now, Earthquake!" Michael yelled. Most trainers would use Salamence's Dragon Claw, since moves with the same type as the Pokémon using them inflict more damage to the enemy. But Michael knew that Metagross, being a Steel type, would take less damage from the usual Dragon Claw. Earthquake, however, was a Ground-type move, and Steel-type Pokémon like Metagross were especially vulnerable to ground moves. So, as the Earthquake impacted the Metagross, it was thrown through the air and landed on its back. "Metagross!" The trainer cried as he ran to his fallen comrade.

Michael looked up to see the blue light in the sky begin to move down and around the arena. Michael closed his eyes and waited for the light to consume all around him.

"All right Michael, that's it for now," the battle instructor Michael knew as Kent said as Michael opened up his eyes to see the Battle Simulator lab. "That was amazing," Kent went on as Michael stepped from the simulator. "The fact that you were able to take command of that gigantic Salamence like it was your little Eevee was truly something." Michael smiled at the praise before saying, "I was only trying to help you two complete the simulator." The scientist over in the corner that controlled the Battle Simulator looked up at this statement. "Even so," the scientist said, "The difference between not just the size but the attitude of a Salamence and an Eevee is very large." The scientist scratched his chin as he continued with his observations. "Since we have made each Pokémon in the Battle Simulator a close to the real thing as possible, which includes a Salamence's refusal to accept a weak or inexperienced trainer. That shows that you have great potential to become a truly great trainer."

Michael was once again pleased and slightly surprised at this much praise. True, Michael was the best trainer at the HQ Lab, but that wasn't saying much because only a select few of the people at this lab were actual trainers. Most of the people here were scientists. Even his mother had worked on this project since before he could remember. Michael was snapped out of his thoughts as Kent said, "Hey Michael. The only Pokémon you have right now is your Eevee, right? Don't you think you should start training other Pokémon?" Michael thought about Kent's words. While it was true that Michael would like to be able to train other Pokémon, he couldn't just go out and catch one anytime he'd like. Unlike other regions, Orre had been devoid of wild Pokémon since anyone could remember. So that's why Michael's only Pokémon is the Eevee his father gave to him before he disappeared. Michael took Eevee's Pokeball of his belt. The then tossed the ball a short distance. As the baseball-sized sphere hit the ground, it popped open and a bright white light came out of it. The light began to take a shape, and then dispersed as Eevee came into full sight. Eevee had the appearance and the size of a small fox. Eevee had mostly light brown fur, with the exception of the cream-colored fur at the tip of its tail and around its neck and darker brown fur in its ears. Eevee looked up at Michael with a yawn. It then walked over to him, and sat by his leg. It then looked around at the room before realizing it was the Battle Simulator room. As if it knew some future event, Eevee ran over the door of the room and started yipping at Michael to walk over there. "Well, I guess I'll help you two out some more later," Michael said as he walked toward his Eevee and the door. "No problem." Kent stated as Michael walked through the door.

As he walked out, however, he almost ran over Wilson, the oldest man in the lab. "I'm sorry Wilson!" Michael said as he backed away from the frail old man. "It's alright sonny," Wilson said as he leaned on his cane, "I was coming over to talk to you, as a matter of fact." Wilson continued. Michael, intrigued, asked, "Well what is it?" "Just the fact that your mother and the professor needed you in his office." Wilson stated as he shambled toward the elevator at the end of the hall. Michael then started running towards the office, despite the fact that is was fairly close. His Eevee following close behind him. As he came up to the office door, it opened to reveal his mother wearing her usual pink dress and Professor Krane wearing his green shirt, lab coat, and glasses. "Hello Michael," his mother said, "Do you wish to speak to the director?" "Ha-ha, no need to be so official all the time Lily," Krane laughed, "Especially around your son." "But…" Lily started to say something but then decided against it. "By the way Michael, I heard your discussion with Kent all the way from over here." The professor went on, "It sounds like your already impressive battling skills are steadily improving." Michael nodded and stated, "I am getting better at battling, but I still need to get used to battling real trainers with Eevee." "I'm sure you will get the chance in the near future." Krane replied. "Either way, I'm sure you would stomp me flat in a battle." Krane said followed by a laugh. Lily turned to Krane and sighed, "I wish all of you would give my kids so much praise all the time. They're going to be spoiled rotten if you keep this up!" "It's alright Lily," Krane replied to her worrying, "Michael and Jovi are both wonderful children." Michael was a bit upset by this statement, since he had his fourteenth birthday a few months ago.

Lily then turned to her son and requested, "I don't want to bother you Michael, but I need you to find Jove for me. We are nearing an important phase in the Purifying Chambers development, so I can't go looking for her. I haven't seen her since lunch, so I'm getting worried. So will you please go look for her?" "Of course," Michael replied, "I'll go find her." Michael was, on the inside, frustrated that, once again, he had to go find his sister because she got lost on the lab grounds again. "Or," Michael though, "she could have gone off to that crazy Dr. Kaminko's lab again." "Sorry to have you bothered by this Michael," Professor Krane said, "But the Purifying Chambers five year development period is reaching its conclusion, and your mother is needed here for her expertise." Michael nodded at this statement. Professor Krane nodded to himself then suddenly looked up. "Oh, yes. Michael, I have left the PDA I told you about in your room. Feel free to get it before you look for your sister. PDA stands for Pokémon Digital Assistance, but I'm pretty sure you knew that already. You shouldn't have any trouble learning how to use it."

Michael, excited by this news, only managed a quick, "Thanks Professor!" before he bolted from the room through the door opposite the one he came through. He ran through the next room, carefully avoiding the man working at the computer, and continued on to the elevator. The elevator took him down to the first floor, and he immediately bolted for the first room on his right. After walking down a small hallway, Michael entered his room. He walked over to his desk, and picked up the PDA. As soon as Michael picked up his new device, it made the ringing noise that announced the arrival of a new e-mail. Flipping the device open, Michael skimmed through the e-mail, learning that his sister had been playing hide and seek with Adon. Adon was an assistant at the lad that mostly kept Jovi out of the way of the other people working there. Michael had heard Adon in one of the upstairs rooms when he was running back to his room.

Before he left the room, Michael called his Eevee back into its Pokeball. So, Michael ran over to the elevator to go back up to the second floor. Walking down to the room where he had heard Adon's voice earlier, he opened the door to see no one there. Confused, he looked around the room. After not finding anyone he heard a voice say, "Michael, are you looking for me? I'm hiding from Jovi, so please don't give me away." Michael looked under the table at the side of the room and saw Adon huddled in a ball underneath it. "Actually, I'm looking for Jovi and haven't had much luck." Michael replied to Adon. "Well, if she isn't anywhere in the lab, she might have ran off to Dr. Kaminko's manor," Adon replied with a huff, "She probably forgot about me hiding from her, so now I'm going to have to stay down here." Michael smirked at this statement. As he walked out of the room, he called, "Thanks for the tip, Adon!"

Michael then almost collided with a scientist who was heading towards the eating area of the lab. "The news just came on, and there's been a lot of talking coming from inside the eating area. Let's go check it out, Michael." He said. As they walked into the room, they heard the end of the broadcast. "The S.S. Libra was reportedly filled with Pokémon. The ship has been missing for five days, and all the authorities can say is that they don't have any clue what has happened," the news anchor stated, "All we can do is hope that the dozens of Pokémon on board are safe and sound. This has been ONBS News."

Michael, disturbed by this news but still with a mission, left the eating area. Michael then ran back down to his room and opened a box at the foot of his bed. Inside were three potions, Michaels stash just in case he had to go somewhere outside the lab. Michael then exited the lab from the door closest to his room, and started to walk to the border of the lab's grounds. He thought back to the news cast. It wasn't unheard of for ships to disappear, but it was the first time one had disappeared near Orre in a long time. On top of that, they can't find any evidence to show how or why such a large ship disappeared. Michael shook these dark thoughts out of his mind. He walked over to his scooter, let his Eevee out of its Pokeball, and then mounted his scooter. It had been a while, but he was sure he could find Dr. Kaminko's manor soon.

As, he drove away from the lab, a pair of eyes watched him from the trees, and immediately dismissed him of every being a threat. Little did the owner of the eyes know that the fourteen-year old boy looking for his sister would become the largest threat to their plans.

nt here...


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note: Thanks to all of you who have read to this point. I have recieved some advice, so I hope my story will be much more appling now. I should have already done this, but I own none of this. All characters, places, and events are property of Nintendo. **

Michael arrived at Dr. Kaminko's manor after an hour of trial and error. The large mansion was menacing, but that might be partially because of the thunderstorm that was going on. In front of the manor was a fountain with a statue of an upright-lizard like Pokémon. The manor itself was what appeared to be a slightly rundown building with two electrical machines sticking out of the roof. The yard had a few almost dead bushes, and the few trees that were able to grow here were completely devoid of leaves. All in all, it gave the area a very sinister appearance.

Michael, knowing his sister had to be inside the very strange building, began to walk up to the front door. However, just before he could begin walking up the steps to the double doors of the manor, a squeaky voice called out "Halt! I cannot allow you to proceed any further!"

Michael turned around to see someone walking up to him. He was fairly short, had short blue had, and was wearing a lab coat as well as glasses with a spiral pattern on them.

"Chobin will not allow burglars to enter Dr. Kaminko's laboratory!" The child, for that is what Michael could only think of him as, yelled.

"Chobin, the number one assistant of Dr. Kaminko, will set you straight!" Chobin yelled as he through a Pokeball towards Michael. Michael, expecting to be attacked by a very threatening Pokémon, called out Eevee to fight whatever Pokémon Chobin was using. He was surprised, however, to see that Chobin's Pokémon was nothing more than a Sunkern. Sunkern was a small grass type Pokémon that resembled a seed with a small sprout coming out of its head.

Michael knew Sunkern was among the weakest of all Pokémon.

So, Michael called, "Eevee, get rid of it with a Tackle." Eevee rammed into the small Grass Pokémon, easily defeating it in one attack. As the Sunkern landed on the stone pathway, Chobin fell to his knees.

"Chobin lost!" he cried as he dropped his glasses. As he fumbled to put the strange eyewear, he continued with, "But Chobin will still not allow the burglar to enter the manor of Dr. Kaminko!" Chobin, finally putting his glasses back on correctly, then said, "Wait, on closer inspection, it's obvious the burglar is a child! Thus, the burglar is not actually a burglar. You should have said something."

Michael, annoyed with being called a child by someone who was obviously younger than him, was going to argue with Chobin's idea of what made a burglar and what didn't, but the large double doors that led into the manor suddenly opened. Then, to Michael's surprise, Jovi walked through the large doorway. For most, it would be impossible to tell that the two were siblings. While Michael had red hair and green eyes, Jovi had blue hair and eyes. However, once someone would grow to know them, they share many of the same unconscious habits.

Jovi then turned to Michael and said in a voice one would expect coming from a little girl, "What are you doing here big brother? Oh, you must have gotten yourself lost, haven't you?"

Michael immediately responded with a "No", but his sister wouldn't listen. "No, don't lie to Jovi. You can't hide stuff from Jovi!" After this statement which only succeeded in aggravating Michael further, Jovi turned and stated, "This big house belongs to Dr. Kaminko! He makes a lot of funny inventions. There's a whole bunch of cool stuff like at the HQ lab. You should come inside and explore to, big brother!"

After her monologue, Jovi ran back into the manor. Michael was going to follow her, but Chobin interrupted.

"Michael, you are that infuriating girl's older brother? She come around here sometimes and bothers the Doctor. Oh, yes! Why don't you come have a look at Dr. Kaminko's inventions? I'm sure you can get back to what you are doing afterwards."

Michael decided to humor Chobin and followed him into the manor. Once in the center room, Chobin turned and said,

"Dr. Kaminko's inventions are number one in the world! Chobin wishes to be able to create such amazing inventions himself one day!" Michael, perplexed by this statement, asked Chobin, "How do you know Dr. Kaminko's inventions are better than everyone else's?

Chobin, with a shocked expression on his face, replied, "That needs explaining? Very well. No one else but Dr. Kaminko would ever think about creating such inventions! Therefore, they are number one without question!" "In fact, Dr. Kaminko is most likely inventing more great products in that room there," Chobin said as he pointed towards the room on Michael's left.

After hearing Jovi's voice come from the room, Chobin cried, "Oh no! That annoying girl is at Dr. Kaminko's side again! Chobin hopes she is not being too disruptive."

Chobin turned to Michael and said, "If you will turn your attention to the screen on the far side of the wall, Chobin will show you some of Dr. Kaminko's inventions!"

Chobin turned on the screen, started a video, and then ran to see if Jovi was bothering the Doctor too much. Michael watched the video of Chobin describing one of Dr. Kaminko's inventions, which was a pair of sandals that apparently slowly began to negatively affect the health of the individual wearing them. Chobin walked back in the room as Michael, who was wondering if people actually bought this kind of footwear, turned his attention to him.

"If you wish to ever see anymore of Dr. Kaminko's amazing inventions on the screen, just ask Chobin and Chobin will take care of it." Chobin told Michael.

Michael, deciding to never waste anymore of his life watching videos about these weird inventions, walked toward the door that Chobin had pointed out earlier. Inside were two older men, one of whom was clad in a light green hat and orange shirt, while the other had long hair that stuck straight up, a lab coat, and a pair of glasses not unlike Chobin's. Jovi was beside Dr. Kaminko, for that is who he obviously was, and was looking at the blueprints on the table.

"What funny invention is this, Dr. Kaminko? Jovi wants to know!" Jovi said in a cheerful voice as the Doctor mumbled to himself.

"Jovi!" Michael whispered as he walked up to his sister.

"Oh? What do you want, big bro?" Jovi replied in an equally quite voice as she turned to her older brother.

"Our Mother is looking for you. We need to get back to the lab so that she knows you are alright." Michael explained.

"But big bro just got here. Don't you want to see all the weird machines?" Jovi said in a whining voice. After looking at Michael's serious expression, she sighed.

"Fine. Mimi, come here!" Jovi said to the small Pokémon that was standing beside her. Jovi's Minun, named Mimi, is an Electric Pokémon with blue and cream-colored fur. With a cry of "Mi!" it hopped onto its owners shoulders.

"Ok, bye-bye Doctor!" Jovi said. As they left the dark manor, Michaels PDA began to beep. Answering the machine, Michael saw that Proffer Krane needed him as soon as possible.

"Oh? Professor Krane needs big bro for something?" Jovi asked in her high-pitched voice. She then yelled, "So let's go!"

After making their way back to the lab, Michael say that their Mother was waiting outside the lab.

"Jovi!" she remarked when she saw her younger child, "aren't you playing a game with Adon right now?"

Jovi, with a shocked look on her face, yelled, "Oh no! Jovi was playing hide-and-seek with Adon, but Jovi forgot!" She yelled "Bye big bro!" to Michael as she ran back into the lab.

"Thank you for finding her." Lily said as she started walking back to the lab. "By the way, Professor Krane was looking for you in the lab area next to the Purifying Chamber Development Lab. You need to go see him as soon as possible."

"Thanks for the info." Michael stated as he ran into the HQ Lab. Going straight to where the Professor was supposed to be, he found him alongside one of the other scientists that works in the lab.

"Ah, there you are, Michael." Professor Krane said as he turned to Michael. "We have been waiting for you. As you know, this lab area was used to develop a special machine. Do you remember the name and purpose of this machine?

Michael, having heard about the development but not much else, replied "It's the Snag Machine. I don't know much about it, but apparently you can steal other people's Pokémon with it."

Krane, with a slight frown on his face, explained, "While that is technically true, the Snag Machine was created to only steal Shadow Pokémon. Since I know you remember the Shadow Pokémon incident that occurred five years ago, I won't go into much detail. But, you need to know that this machine is very powerful. The last Snag Machine was used by Wes to defeat Cipher five years ago. What has happened to Cipher, the Snag Machine, and Wes himself is unknown. Either way, we need to be prepared just in case Shadow Pokémon are created again. So, we need you, the strongest trainer at this facility, to help us with the test run of the Snag Machine. I will be waiting upstairs in the Battle Simulation room after we get the machine hooked up to your arm."

Michael, excited to test out this interesting machine, helped them put it on his right arm. The machine had silver plates on the back part of his hand and his shoulder. The silver plate on his hand connected to a glove-like cover for his hand, and a large black wire connected the two plates. Several wires connected the silver plate to an eyepiece which covered Michael's' right eye.

"A perfect fit!" The scientist beside Krane said. "Well, we'll be waiting in the Simulation room for you." He continued as they walked away. "But wait," he said, stopping as Krane continued on, "you need Pokeballs to capture Pokémon, even simulations! So here, I have imported five from the Hoenn region for use in this experiment."

Michael accepted the Pokeballs, which were in dormant state, making them golf ball rather than baseball size. However, he then heard a scream from the next room.

"W-What is happening?" The scientist stuttered. Michael ran out the door, ready to defeat whatever threat lay beyond.


	4. Chapter 4

Alright, time for the next chapter!

Michael quickly scanned the outside area of the HQ to try to find out what had happened. What he saw was a vision of total chaos. Both Ladon, another young trainer at the HQ Lab whose partner was Sentret, and Russel, one of the few scientists at the Lab which had a Pokémon partner, were lying unconscious on the ground. Ladon had claw marks along his arms, but looked fine everywhere else. On the other hand, Russel had apparently been hit on the forehead and fell unconscious immediately. The fountains that decorated the field in front of the Lab appeared to have scorched by powerful flames.

But the most out of place thing was the three people in white uniforms. One was much buffer that the other two, and also had Professor Krane pinned with his arms. The second was the most generic of the three, only wearing a uniform and a red scarf. The third, who appeared to be the leader, had a slightly different helmet as well as yellow trim on his uniform. They also had a storage van, a large hover vehicle usually used for transporting large Pokémon and items.

"We need to leave, before anymore of them see us!" The plain grunt yelled. He then immediately turned and saw Michael running towards them.

"Naps!" He yelled towards the yellow one, "Can you handle him like you did the others?"

Naps, as that was apparently his name, turned toward Michael. "So what? Are you going to try to play the hero? In that case, it's time for you to learn heroes don't always win!" Naps unclipped a Pokeball from his uniform. "Teddiursa, crush him!" He yelled as he threw the sphere in Michael's direction.

The Pokémon that appeared looked a lot like a child's teddy bear. It had orange and cream-colored fur that covered most of its body, and a symbol in the form of a crescent moon on its forehead. This was expected, but what shocked and also scared Michael was the look in the Pokémon's eyes. Normal Pokémon have that sparkle in their eyes that shows emotion and intelligence. Even Pokémon that have no problem attacking people show malicious intent in their eyes. However, this Teddiursa had neither. It just looked towards Michael with what appeared to be soulless eyes.

Michael also noticed it appeared to have Ladon's blood on its claws. With a grimace, Michael threw out Eevee to fight this monster.

Then, something strange happened. The eyepiece from the Snag Machine then shot out and created a turquoise screen that Michael could see through. Staring past it, he was shocked to see that the Teddiursa now had a glowing purple aura surrounding it.

"Michael!" Professor Krane yelled. "That's a Shadow Pokémon! You need to snag it from him!"

Michael looked back at the Teddiursa. Eevee was dancing around its attacks, but would easily be defeated if he didn't do anything. Michael unclipped one of the Pokeballs that he had on his belt. He held it in his glove that connected to the Snag Machine and turned it to active mode. The Pokeball grew to its normal size and began to emit a purple glow.

"Throw it now!" Professor Krane yelled. Michael reared back his arm, and threw the sphere at the Teddiursa. What happened next shocked him. Normally, when catching a Pokémon, the Pokémon will turn into white light and be sucked into the ball. However, what happened now was totally different. Instead of turning into white light, what appeared to be a ghostly hand popped out of the Pokeball and dragged Teddiursa into it! The ball immediately showed a successful capture.

"Wa-What just happened? W-Was it a snag?" Naps stuttered, obviously not hearing what Professor Krane had just yelled at Michael.

"Naps? What the hell just happened?" The grunt yelled towards his yellow partner. His eyes widened when they landed on the machine on Michael's arm.

"Naps! We need to get out of here now! If you can't handle the kid, looks like we'll have to do it the hard way!" The grunt threw out a Pokeball.

"Magmar! Use Hypnosis!" Out of the Pokeball came a red and yellow colored creature. Before Michael could get any more details, a series of blue orbs began to lull him into a deep sleep. Just before he lost consciousness, he saw the large man throw Professor Krane in the back of their vehicle.

His final thought before he completely lost consciousness was this. "I failed.

When Michael came to, he was laying on his bed in his room. He quickly checked his belt, only to discover he was missing the Pokeballs holding both his Eevee and the strange Teddiursa.

Silently cursing under his breath, Michael made his way towards the room where he had obtained the Snag Machine, which was still secured on his arm. After the door opened, he was met with a sorry sight. Ladon and Russel were sleeping on two examination tables. While Russel looked perfectly fine, Ladon was another story. His arms, "which had most likely been attacked by the Teddiursa," Michael thought, had been torn to shreds. Michael could see muscle twitching and even the white of his bones. Luckily, one of the scientists was also doctors, and she was currently patching up his arms to the best of her abilities.

But what really affected Michael was the sight of his mother and sister over by the table. Jovi was crying, and Lily was trying to comfort her. Unlike most children, Jovi rarely ever cried, so to see her openly weeping was surprising. Michael also saw one of the scientists discussing something with Lily.

As he walked over, he heard the scientist say "But that is impossible! Without Professor Krane, we have no chance of completing the Purifying Chamber!"

Lily quickly countered his statement with, "It's because of everyone here that we got so far!" Lily then turned to Michael.

"Michael!" She exclaimed. "It's good to see that you are feeling better!" Lily, after giving Jovi one more comforting tap, moved over to her son.

"Your Pokémon are currently over in the Development Area, being healed by Blissey. If you want, feel free to go pick them up." His mother stated.

With a brief word of thanks, Michael walked over to the Development Area and picked up his Pokémon. After walking back to where his mother had been a second ago, he discovered she had already gone upstairs.

Michael up to the upstairs portion of the Lab and found his mother in Professor Krane's office, looking through the notes in the Purifying Chamber file.

"Hey Michael." She said. "Can I ask a favor of you? I need you to go to Gateon Port to pick up a part for the Chamber. It shouldn't be too far for you to travel."

Just before Michael accepted the job, his sister ran into the room, yelling, "I know where the Parts Shop is! Let Jovi do it!"

Lily turned to her younger child, shaking her head. "You don't need to do this alone, Jovi. So, unless Michael is fine with you going, you need to stay here."

Michael immediately responded with, "I'm fine with her coming along." Michael wanted to do something to cheer up his younger sister.

"Yay!" Jovi yelled in a very high-pitched voice.

"Alright. If you two are both going, you need to leave now. And Michael," she said, walking over to her older child, "Make sure you are careful when using that Shadow Pokémon in battle. They are very powerful, but they won't hesitate to hurt you or others."

"I'll be careful." Michael promised his mother. He then led his sister out of the Lab, but before they could leave the grounds, the scientist that had helped Professor Krane attach the Snag Machine to his arm ran up to him.

"Thank goodness I was able to catch up to you!" the scientist said. After catching his breath, he said, "I have some things that the Professor believed you either needed or needed to know. First off, take this." The scientist handed him a chip for his PDA. "This chip will allow you to transport any Shadow Pokémon you capture to the lab." After receiving a confused look, the scientist went on. "I guess I need to explain. We still aren't quite sure what influences a Shadow Pokémon's purification. So, we would appreciate it if you transferred any Shadow Pokémon that you capture to the Lab. Now, you do still need Pokémon with you, but I doubt you'll need more than your Eevee and that Teddiursa."

"On the topic of Pokémon in your party, take this as well." The scientist gave Michael a small card. The card had all of the same information as his PDA. Once again, Michael gave the scientist a confused look. "This is your Trainer Card." The scientist explained. "It will allow you to use the trading depots in Gateon Port, Agate Village, Pyrite Town, and Phenac City. Now, you can't trade any of the Shadow Pokémon you capture, but once you purify them, you can trade them away to a trainer that will take care of them!" Michael, still skeptical of trading Pokémon, slowly put the small card in one of his pockets.

"And finally," the scientist said, "I need to give you a very important piece of information. We are not the only Lab that has been working on the Snag Machine." At this information, Michael's jaw dropped. As far as he had ever known, the Snag Machine was a device whose very existence wasn't known outside the Orre region. Only a very select few of officials and professors in other regions knew of the devices creation.

After gathering his thoughts, Michael said, "So, if this isn't the only Snag Machine, will this other lab assist us?"

To his great surprise, the scientist began laughing. "As a matter of fact," The scientist started, "the other lab has already been notified of what happened today and is sending over an experienced trainer with their Snag Machine."

Michael, still wanting more information, began rabidly firing questions at the scientist. "Where is this lab? Who is this trainer? Why are you telling me this now? How good is this trainer?"

The scientist quickly answered all of these questions. "The lab is in the Unova region. This trainer's name is Lia. I am telling you this now because the Professor said this was top secret until the Snag Machine was finished. And Lia is stronger than most of the trainers in the Unova region, only losing to Iris and Alder."

This information made Michael pause. Any trainer that could say there only defeat had come at the hands of Champions must be very strong.

"Alright, thanks for the information." Michael said. "But we need to go now, so bye."

Michael led his sister to his scooter. After both of them were comfortable, Michael began his long drive to Gateon Port.

Thanks for reading!

Any reviews will be appreciated!

Michaels team:

Eevee: Lv: 12. Moves: Tackle, Bite, Sand Attack, Tail Whip

Teddiursa: Lv: 15?. Moves: Shadow Blitz, Shadow Mist, Lick


End file.
